Is It Possible to Build Custom Website on a Budget?
The ideal web application
I do not like to shop, however, if I do, I follow the principle of ideal solutions. What do I mean by ideal solutions? I am already hastening to explain. For example: some time ago I bought a sofa for my apartment. I didn't want to spend an exorbitant amount of money on this purchase, but instead of walking the line of least resistance and buying a cheap sofa in the first better store, I decided to visit an expensive store with an exclusive assortment and choose the sofa of my dreams, regardless of the price. However, I chose it not to buy it, but to have a reference point and try to find a piece of furniture as close to my dream one as possible, within a budget I can afford. You're probably wondering why this lengthy introduction? Why is that this method also works well for buying websites. So let's move on to the aforementioned ideal solutions:
The ideal store or website
The model we will use as a reference will be the Business application (link), created by top-notch specialists. It is fast, responsive, with free updates and 24/7 technical support. It has a clear interface, as well as an interesting and modern graphic design enriched with smooth animations. In prestigious speed and optimization tests (described in the article How to check a website or store?), the site scores top marks without compromise. So let's point out the characteristics of an ideal candidate.
- Optimization
- Error-free semantics
- No syntax errors
- Low maintenance
- Support
- Security
- Friendly and thoughtful interface
- Modern graphic design
- Smooth animations
- Expandable
- Availability
- Ease of use
Which of these advantages do I think is the most important? I think optimization. Well, because what good is a perfect website or store if we lose the race for the first places in search results and no one will see it?
Available solutions
Now let's try to look at the solutions available on the market. The topic is quite extensive, and if I prolong it I will lose your attention, so I will focus on the most popular solutions and let me simplify some aspects a bit to make my message understandable. Who can make web applications for us I described in the article: Who makes websites or online stores? - and here I will try to describe what the possibilities are:
Wizards
This is the cheapest form of solution, which allows for quick software configuration, at the expense of the main purpose of the application. After all, the purpose of a website is not to make it easy to edit a page or store, but to make it as high quality as possible, which is a prelude to SEO, which in turn contributes to acquiring customers. After all, your potential customer is not interested in whether it was easy or difficult for the person who created your site to edit it. What matters is the end result - that is, the sale of your product or service. As a rule, I advise against choosing wizards or "install another plugin" methods that create an artificial crowd of visitors to the site. Almost always such an approach ends up with several different libraries on the site, inconsistent code and problems during development or editing. The worst example of an application development approach seems to be the use of solutions such as Wix or Elementor, which are the culmination of all possible flaws.
Pros of the solution:
- No
Minuses of the solution:
- Lack of personnel solutions
- No access to the application code
- Subscription price
- Lack of support
- Lack of integration
- Poor optimization
- Applications are often not secure
- Tendency to drop in performance
- Lack of unique design
Templates
That is, ready-made customizable website designs, created much earlier. The quality of the template largely depends on the skill and approach of the creator. On the web we can find many well-written applications, prepared for SEO, where the author placed great emphasis on the quality of the software produced. On the other hand, the lion's share of templates is not really usable. Developers often exaggerate the variants of a given template, as a result of which we get applications with a mass of unnecessary code that will never be used. Personally, I prefer the approach that if you don't use something, don't make the browser load it. Following this line of reasoning: the template during the deployment process should be cleaned of unnecessary libraries, design variants or dependencies that we don't use on our site.
Pros of the solution:
- Low cost of implementation
- Proprietary application
- Freedom of editing (depending on the template)
- Speed of operation
- Possibility of personalization
- Mostly a subscription option, but there is an option for a one-time fee
Minuses of the solution:
- Repeatable appearance
- Personalization involves a significant increase in cost
- Some contractors require subscription fees
- Lack of property rights
- Incorrectly implemented template can result in poor performance
- Template provider does not always offer an implementation package
Customized Solutions
In this section, we will focus on projects that respond to the specified needs of the ordering party, that is, solutions written individually for each client. A website in this form has individual application code, personalized graphic design and freely selected modules. As I mentioned in the introduction, my priority when creating individual projects is speed of operation proven by a high score in PageSpeed Insights speed tests, which should be the result of a professionally written application. A lot of factors influence the level, complexity as well as quality of a website or store. However, I would be lying if I wrote that budget is not the most important one. Specialists cost money, and good specialists cost even more. Therefore, if someone offers you an application below market prices, check carefully to see if there is a catch. If you don't know how to do it, I wrote a separate article about it: How to Avoid Being Scammed
Pros of the solution:
- Customized software that guarantees unlimited possibilities
- Unique graphic design
- Freedom of editing, software tailored to your needs
- Application on your own
- Possibility of personalization
- Speed of action
Minuses of the solution:
- High cost
Summary and conclusions
The article should be regarded as an introduction to the debate on application trade-offs due to the number of simplifications and mental shortcuts used. The advantages and disadvantages of the various options depend on a number of factors and may not always be present. For example, the templates solutions that Compsoul offers may in some cases prove to be a much better choice than many individual parties. And the other way around: custom pages can turn out to be a much better choice than ready-made solutions. In programming - as in life - not everything is black and white. The article was intended to give an idea of the subject and to make you ask uncomfortable questions of providers of dubious quality.